Jack Nekhala has every reason to stop shopping on Amazon.

His company, Bed Scrunchie, generated about $4.5 million in 2024 and was on track for more, Nekhala said. However, Amazon deactivated its seller account just before the holidays that year, cutting off its biggest sales channel.

"Once the collapse happened through Amazon, it basically collapsed the entire business," Nekhala told Business Insider for our So Expensive video series.

That makes his next admission harder to say.

"I still shop on Amazon," Nekhala said. "I have a daughter. She needs bikes. She needs a scooter, she needs all sorts, she needs different things. And that's the place we go to."

He said he shops on Amazon two to three times a week and sometimes has several orders in a single day.

The habit bothers him more than he can explain, he said. "Continuing to shop there feels like being forced to sit down to dinner with the institution that upended your life."

The account shutdown, he said, left him and his business partner carrying debt and trying to rebuild the financial security they had spent nearly 20 years creating for their young families. "My life has not been the same," he said.

For Nekhala, his Amazon shopping habit reflects how deeply the online marketplace has become embedded in everyday life. In a recent survey of shoppers across the US and Europe, 75% of consumers said they buy from Amazon at least once a month.

"I do not shop there because I have forgiven what happened. I shop there because Amazon has made itself so convenient and embedded in everyday life that even people who feel harmed by it continue to depend on it," Nekhala said.

"It's crazy," he added of his own shopping habits. "It's really incredible what they've accomplished."

Amazon became the default

The appeal of Amazon isn't just price. It's the convenience, Nekhala said.

Amazon already has his payment information, shipping addresses, and purchase history. Adding one more item to an order is often easier than creating an account somewhere else, he said.

"They remove all the friction," Michael Nusinkis, Nekhala's business partner, said.

"I think you just have this muscle memory. I need to buy something — Amazon," Nusinkis added.

The founders saw that same behavior from their own customers.

Before Amazon deactivated their seller account, the pair aired a national television infomercial directing viewers to a website where they could buy the Bed Scrunchie directly for $39.99.

On Amazon, the product sold for $44.95. And they said Amazon sales of the item consistently spiked whenever the infomercial aired.

"All advertising roads lead back to Amazon," Nekhala said.

Nekhala said customers would likely discover the product on television or the company's website, then go to Amazon to compare options, read reviews, and buy it—even at a higher price.

Surveys suggest up to three-quarters of Amazon shoppers start their product searches there.

Even after losing their account, the business couldn't leave Amazon

After months of disputes with Amazon, including allegations that the company had infringed its own patent and violated Amazon's review policies, Nekhala and Nusinkis lost their seller account. The founders dispute both allegations.

They now sell Bed Scrunchie to a third-party distributor, which keeps it available on Amazon for $49.99. Nekhala estimates that Amazon still accounts for 70% to 80% of the company's sales.

That means shoppers may see the Bed Scrunchie name on Amazon without realizing they are buying from a reseller—not the small business that created it, he said.

"Amazon shut out the people who invented and built the product, yet the product remains on its platform at a higher price," Nekhala added. "That contradiction is what makes continuing to shop there so painful."

Nekhala said the company would rather sell the product for less on its own website. But he believes Amazon's pricing policies make that difficult: Listing it more cheaply elsewhere, he said, could mean the product loses visibility or prominent placement on Amazon.

As a result, he said, sellers keep prices in line across retailers, even when it means customers pay more.

That's one of the practices at the center of a lawsuit California's attorney general filed against Amazon, alleging it pressures brands and third-party sellers to raise prices at competing retailers so Amazon isn't undercut.

In a statement to Business Insider, Amazon says its goal is to protect customers from overpaying and maintain trust in its marketplace by comparing prices with other reputable retailers. If a product is listed for less elsewhere, Amazon says it may choose not to prominently feature that offer, though it remains available for purchase. Amazon also argues California's case relies on a handful of emails taken out of context and says the challenged practices are common retail negotiations designed to deliver "low prices, vast selection, and unmatched convenience" for customers.